Throughout the years, MOTHER EARTH NEWS readers have proved to be a clever lot. You’ve shown time and again that you can save a bundle when you apply resourcefulness and a little elbow grease to home economics. Frankly, our consumer culture pressures many of us to live above our means. The good news is that making a personal and household commitment to a more frugal lifestyle can be a fulfilling, healthy choice — and the following tips to save money can start you on that journey. Imagine what your life will be like when you slash your grocery or utility bills in half, or when you’re able to pay down your mortgage.

We’ve assembled the following tips to save money from you, our readers, and from our Amazin’ Archive — 44 years’ worth of articles about living on less and loving it.

After you read our selections, find more details for how to implement the tips that interest you by clicking on the links that follow each tip.

Saving Money on Shelter & Clothing

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average U.S. home built in 2012 was 2,505 square feet. For many families, that’s much larger than necessary. Sizable homes are more expensive to build, heat, cool and maintain. If you’re able to reduce your home size to a cozier and more practical fit that still meets your needs, savings will follow. No matter the size of your house, here are ways to keep your construction, living and maintenance costs down.

Fresh eggs from backyard hens can cost less than $2 in feed per dozen.Photo by maXximages.com/Ros Drinkwater

Buy raw ingredients in bulk rather than prepackaged or prepared foods. Start or join a bulk food co-op and place orders directly with food companies to further cut costs.Photo by Doug Snodgrass

Look no further than your pantry for remedies for many common ailments.Photo by iStockphoto/ivstiv

Let the sun do the work. Reduce energy costs by line-drying your clothes. A kitchen garden, even in a small space, such as along the sunny side yard of your house or apartment building, will reduce grocery costs — escpecially for fresh herbs.Photo by First Light/Rafael Ben-Ari/age f

Commute by bicycle to save money and make fitness a daily routine.Photo by maXximages.com/Jim West

1. Learn how to be your own plumber and electrician. Check out how-to books from the library or invest in a class at a vocational school. Read more: Be Your Own Plumber.

2. Join or start a tool-lending library. Power tools are expensive and often only needed for a short time to complete a single project. Read more: Start Your Own Tool-Sharing Program.

6. When shopping for land, save on a real estate agent’s commission by browsing for homes listed for sale on the Internet or talking with neighbors and landowners directly. You may even discover an owner willing to sell a plot that’s never been listed. Read more: How to Buy Farmland, Even If You Think You Can’t.

8. Knit, crochet or sew your own clothes. At the least, sew on new buttons, darn socks, patch jeans and learn how to repair clothing you already own before buying new. Read more: How to Knit and Crochet.

9. Forgo the cost of running a clothes dryer and instead string a clothesline in your yard or on a porch or patio. Put up a line in a greenhouse or sunroom in order to air-dry garments during cold or wet weather, or invest in fold-up clothes-drying racks for indoor use. Read more: The Convenient, Sturdy Outdoor Clothesline.

10. Organize a group clothing swap to trade your gently used threads for new-to-you apparel.

Saving Money on Food & Gardening

Hold on to your grocery and restaurant receipts for one month to track where your food dollars are going — you might be surprised by what you learn. Many North Americans spend nearly half of their food budgets on restaurants and fast food. Avoid most of that expense by cooking at home: Home-cooked meals cost less, and you’ll cultivate a closer relationship with your food because you’ll know exactly what goes into it.

13. Prepare big batches of food on weekends and refrigerate or freeze leftovers for use throughout the week. Take your own lunch and snacks to work.

14. Forgo pricey coffee-shop lattes by drinking coffee at home and filling your to-go cup for the road.

15. Buy raw ingredients in bulk rather than prepackaged or prepared foods. Start or join a bulk food co-op and place orders directly with food companies to further cut costs. Read more: Save Money on Groceries.

17. Buy dry beans in bulk at a fraction of the cost of canned products, and pressure-cook them to save time. Pressure cooking also tenderizes inexpensive, tougher cuts of meat in a fraction of the time that conventional cooking requires. Read more: Pressure Cooking Basics (Video).

23. Learn how to hunt and fish. Deer and other wild game will stock your freezer with delicious, lean meat for the price of a hunting license and initial equipment purchases. Read more: Why I Eat Wild Meat.

Saving Money on Family Health

Health care spending in the United States averaged $8,402 per person in 2010 — 72 percent higher than a decade earlier. What herbalists and thrifty parents have known for millennia, however, is that matters of health can often be taken into your own hands for a fraction of the cost, especially when your goal is to prevent illness.

26. Turn the outdoors into your personal gym. Aerobic activity, coupled with a set of dumbbells you keep at home, can eliminate your need for a gym membership. Research shows that being in nature for even a few minutes at a time reduces stress hormones, which in turn boosts immunity. Read more: Your Brain on Nature: Forest Bathing and Reducing Stress.

27. Eating well may be the most enjoyable form of preventive medicine. Organic foods stock your body with nourishing nutrients and are free of toxic chemicals.

28. Grow medicine in your backyard! You can make many effective herbal remedies at home using kitchen equipment you likely already own. Read more: 75 Safe and Effective Herbal Remedies.

29. Mental happiness translates to physical well-being. Find happiness in the stress-reducing aspects of simple living, and your body — as well as your mind — will be less prone to illness. Read more: Simple Living: How to Save Money and Smile More.

Saving Money on Home Energy

Take these steps to improve your home’s energy performance, and you’ll enjoy a triple win: lower utility bills, a smaller carbon footprint and a more comfortable home. Before investing in a solar- or wind-energy system, make your home as energy-efficient as possible. An efficient home requires less energy to run, meaning you’ll be able to purchase a smaller, less expensive renewable energy system. To see calculations that outline just how quickly the measures below pay off, read 8 Easy Projects for Instant Home Energy Savings.

30. Plug your appliances into power strips, and flip the switch off when you’re not using them. This will eliminate “phantom loads” from many appliances that continue to pull power when they’re plugged in but not in use. Read more: Zap Phantom Loads to Save Energy.

31. Adjust your computer’s power-management settings so that it powers down into sleep or hibernate mode after several minutes of inactivity. Read more: Reduce Computer Energy Use.

32. Replace inefficient incandescent light bulbs with light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs or compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). The initial investment will pay for itself after one to three years, and the savings will continue for the remaining life of the bulb — up to 50,000 hours for a quality LED. Read more: Lighten Up With Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs.

33. Rather than relying on air conditioning, open and close windows to regulate home temperature, and use fans to move air throughout your home. Read more: Natural Cooling Strategies.

34. If going AC-free is too challenging in your climate, set your thermostat at 70 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. For every degree you increase your thermostat, you will save seven to 10 percent on cooling costs. Read more: Five Tips to Help You Lower Your Utility Bill.

40. During cold weather, use a heated mattress pad to keep you warm at night. Similarly, wear sweaters and use a small space heater in a room you can close off. You can then turn down your thermostat. Read more: 8 Easy Projects for Instant Home Energy Savings.

41. If you live in a suitable area and have access to a woodlot, heating your home with a woodstove can reduce your energy costs. Read more: How to Choose the Right Woodstove.

Saving Money on Transportation & Travel

Forty percent of all automobile trips are less than 2 miles. Walking these miles paves the way for you to save at the gas pump while reducing stress, fostering a greater connection to your environment and getting in a workout. More than 80 percent of North Americans support increased federal funding for biking and walking, and at least 16 of the nation’s major public transportation systems reported record ridership in 2012. Clearly, the first step to cutting transportation expenses should be the step you take away from your vehicle.

48. “Hypermiling” means adjusting your driving habits to save fuel, and these tactics can help you achieve up to 40 percent more miles per gallon. Drive slower on highways, brake less and accelerate smartly. Read more: Every Gallon Counts: Hypermiling Tips to Save Gas; How to Calculate Gas Mileage.

51. When flying, be flexible. Many airlines overbook flights and offer a free trip at a later time to those who are willing to give up their seats.

52. Home swap so you can enjoy free lodging in a new location. Check out AirBnbto find homeowners willing to rent out their homes to travelers, or crash on someone’s couch by connecting with hosts on Couchsurfing.org.

53. Explore where you live. Plan a “staycation” to travel locally and discover something wonderful within a 50-mile radius of home.

54. When renting a car or truck for a trip, choose a model with fold-down seats and pack a sleeping bag. That way, your rented ride can double as instant, snug lodging.

Saving Money on Education

Rising tuition costs coupled with stories of college graduates unable to find work are discouraging to those hoping to further their own education or plan for their children. Meaningful education can come from a variety of avenues aside from expensive university courses, such as vocational trainings, skills workshops and community-based classes.

56. Attend an in-state, public university, which will subsidize residents’ tuition. If you want to attend college out of state, first establish residency in that state to save big on tuition.

57. Source used textbooks online, at a bookstore that sells used books or directly from other students. Coordinate with students in your degree program early so you can swap books.

58. Audit classes for which you want the knowledge but don’t need the credits.

59. Free video lectures on topics ranging from art history to economics can be viewed online at Khan Academy and Academic Earth. Some universities, including Yale and Utah State, also offer open courses.

60. Trade skills: If you play the piano, for instance, trade your musical training for a photography lesson.

Saving Money on Entertainment

Modern society has replaced creativity with consumption. We choose carryout in place of preparing a home-cooked meal; we listen to music rather than making it. But as Shannon Hayes explains in her book Radical Homemakers, prepackaged pleasures pale in comparison with the joy that comes from fixing, making and tinkering with things. To be entertained isn’t always a passive experience, nor is it wholly personal. Part of the pleasure of attending a community play, visiting an art museum or catching a Little League game is in sharing that time with others.

62. Ditch your TV, or at least your cable service. The average cable subscriber pays about $128 each month for service and associated fees — more than $1,500 per year. If you do watch TV, move your set to a less-used part of your house to discourage mindless viewing. Read more: End Your Family’s TV Addiction.

These tips are only the first steps toward financial freedom. We know you’ll discover more ways to save, because when you tackle projects yourself and embrace the joys of simple living, your pocketbook — and your mind — will instantly reap the benefits.

Related Content

This is a really comprehensive list of useful information. I liked the suggestion under "Saving Money on Food and Gardening" to prepare big batches of food all at once. I call this Bulk Prep Day, which is one of the http://tafarm.us/1eBzfIQ I share often with others. Also, I'm surprised by the number of people that don't even have a food budget. They just wing it, hope they have enough money, and can't notice buying and pricing trends over time because they aren't recording anything about their budget and spending.

Money-Saving Tips in Every Issue!

At MOTHER EARTH NEWS, we are dedicated to conserving our planet's natural resources while helping you conserve your financial resources. You'll find tips for slashing heating bills, growing fresh, natural produce at home, and more. That's why we want you to save money and trees by subscribing through our earth-friendly automatic renewal savings plan. By paying with a credit card, you save an additional $5 and get 6 issues of MOTHER EARTH NEWS for only $12.00 (USA only).